Life Skills
by LelliVee
Summary: No one volunteered to be Natalya Arlovskaya's partner for the big clichéd life skills project. No one was stupid enough. Except for Alfred F. Jones, that is. AmericaxBelarus/Alfred JonesxNatalya Arlovskaya  High School AU  T for language!
1. And So It Begins!

Life Skills

America & Belarus/ Alfred Jones & Natalya Arlovskaya

[High School AU]

**No one volunteered to be Natalya Arlovskaya's partner for the big clichéd life skills project. No one was stupid enough. Except for Alfred F. Jones, that is. (AmericaxBelarus, but I'm trying to squeeze in some HungaryxPrussia at the same time! Hahaha!)**

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><p><em>Italics are used to represent Natalya's inner thoughts in this chapter<em>

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><p>"Alright, class. This is it!" Mr. Edelstein announced uncharacteristically loud, "The start of the big project!" The formerly uninterested class turned their attention towards their young teacher, as he marched into class. He immediately began writing something on the whiteboard. Students began whispering among themselves about what the project could be, and what had gotten into Mr. Edelstein. He finished and stepped back so everyone could take a look at it.<p>

The board read: Marriage & Parenthood

Some students looked happy; others appeared anxious, and some students seemed absolutely disturbed at the thought. After the shock of what was put on the board was gone, everyone burst out talking. Except Natalya Arlovskaya, who just quietly sat at her desk, thinking to herself. She wasn't excited about the project, but she wasn't dreading it, either. _As long as I don't get partnered up with someone careless and unreliable…_

Instantaneously, her eyes were lured towards the most unreliable and careless guy she had the displeasure of knowing… Alfred F. Jones.

She frowned slightly at the sight of him. He was always so happy and carefree, always flashing that goofy grin of his, and laughing his lively laugh. He really pissed her off sometimes…but other times when she thought about him, her lips would betray her and reveal the smallest smile forming at the corners of her delicate mouth. It confused even her. Natalya shook her head ever-so-slightly, diminishing her thoughts about her paradoxical feelings and the boy that caused them.

Natalya focused back on Mr. Edelstein and what he was doing. He was searching through his papers, determined to find whatever it was he was looking for. Natalya lost interest and glanced at her good friend Elizaveta, who was in an impassioned argument with none other than Gilbert Beildschmidt. Natalya assumed that it was, as usual, caused by Gilbert saying one thing-or-other about Mr. Edelstein, and Elizaveta getting exceedingly defensive of the teacher. Speaking of the teacher, Natalya dully noted that he had finally found the papers he was so desperately looking for, but then began looking for something else he needed. She lazily skimmed the rest of the classroom. _Everyone_ was goofing off and fooling around.

That burly, blonde, blue-eyed German guy that Natalya kind of knew was scolding his friend, the younger Italian brother, for jumping on him and generally causing a ruckus. Meanwhile, the older Italian brother was being bothered by that friendly Spaniard. Her friend Toris was, as usual, holding a one-sided conversation with the pushy (but lovable) Feliks. He caught her eye for a moment and smiled at her. She nodded back in acknowledgement and let a small smile pass her lips, and then continued to study the class. Tino Väinämöinen, who was friends with her brother for some reason, leisurely chatted to the other Nordic students about how he wished he was one class ahead, so he could be with his friend Berwald. And that really quiet boy that everyone but Natalya seemed to ignore was attempting to talk to his loud, obnoxious brother _Alfred_.

Natalya sighed quietly. Apparently, her brain wouldn't allow her to stop thinking of that all-American boy that she loathed so much. She observed him with her cold-as-ice glare as he ignored his brother more and conversed loudly with that British guy, Arthur. She narrowed her eyes at Alfred. _How could he treat his own brother in such a way? How could he neglect a poor soft-spoken guy?_ Really, Matthew seemed nice enough. _Alfred's just an unmindful, insensitive pig. _Or at least that's what she's heard from her brother, and that loud Cuban upperclassman…

The teacher was all prepared to teach now. He stepped up to the classroom podium, precious papers in hand. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. That apparently wasn't going to work, because no one turned their heads or stopped conversing. The Austrian instructor made an odd face and cleared his throat again, louder this time. No one cared that he wanted to continue class. Except for Elizaveta, of course. She slammed her hands on her desk, making Gilbert jump back, and shouted "It's time to start class, now! You've had enough time to talk! Give Mr. Edelstein your attention!" _Typical Elizaveta move._ Everyone immediately dropped what they were doing and focused on the teacher. He smiled at Elizaveta gratefully before moving on.

"Like I was saying, guys — Marriage & Parenthood! These days, kids get into all sorts of trouble with their lives and this project is going to teach you just how hard it is to support a family. It's almost like a prevention step." He explained. At least ten hands shot up. He called on Eduard.

"What exactly will we be doing for the project?" Eduard asked skeptically. Everyone whispered after the question, wondering the same thing.

"Well, you're all going to partner up. Each group will be a married couple!" A few people groaned at this fact. Others seemed happy about it. "Don't worry, just like in real life, you get to pick your own partners." That seemed to relax everyone a little. "On top of being a married couple, you'll also have to take care of—" he bent over to pick something off the floor and slammed it onto the podium, "Your very own flour-sack baby!" Mr. Edelstein was beaming at the class.

All the students laughed at the absurdity. They had always seen the movies and TV shows with this assignment, but they never dreamed that they would actually have to do it…

"Now, we obviously have an unbalanced number of girls and boys, but I want everyone to pick their partner before class ends! Get to it!" Mr. Edelstein exclaimed. _Oh, this is going to go well._ Everyone became deathly serious for a moment before springing from their desks and attacking their first choice as a partner. Natalya simply watched the madness go down – she needn't bother herself with picking a partner. The unlucky classmate who couldn't succeed in getting a partner would be stuck with her, anyway.

Veneziano immediately grabbed Ludwig's arm, declaring the two were a couple to Mr. Edelstein. In nearly the same fashion, Antonio possessively hugged Lovino, signifying that they were now married. _That's no surprise. They're always partnered up._ Toris was suckered into being Feliks' partner rather easily. _Toris, you're so easy to manipulate…_ Gilbert had somehow managed to snag Elizaveta as his "loving" wife. He put his arm around her neck. She looked like she was about to murder him. _She's just joking around. She's probably really excited to be partnered up with Gilbert. _That one Asian with the thick eyebrows and Natalya's acquaintance, MeiMei, partnered up. The other Asian, Kiku, decided to marry Heracles. Kiku looked rather pink when he told Mr. Edelstein that they partnered up. _It's just a project…It's not like it's going to really happen._

Natalya noticed that there was a loud commotion in the back of the room. Apparently, Alfred and Francis were fighting over Arthur. _What a bother..._

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><p>And so the story begins! Chapter 2 is already in progress!<p>

Let me know if you liked this, leave a review!

Thank you so much for your time!


	2. The Starting of a Happy Couple?

**Life Skills**

**America & Belarus/ Alfred Jones & Natalya Arlovskaya**

**[High School AU]**

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><p><em>Italics are used to represent Alfred's inner thoughts in this chapter<em>

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><p>"Arthur wants to be my partner!" Alfred yelled at the Frenchman, who scoffed in response. Arthur was in between them, getting pulled towards one, then towards the other. It eventually became such a violent display of tug-of-war that Mr. Edelstein had to intervene.<p>

"Alfred, you're always partnered with Arthur." He stated calmly, "Why don't you switch it up and let Francis work with him just this once?" Alfred pouted like a spoiled little kid, but after much persuasion from his brother, Alfred decided to let Francis have his way — but only this one time. Alfred was currently partnered with his brother.

That seemed to be the last trouble with partners anyone had. Eduard had paired up with Vash, making what was probably the world's most efficient couple. That Icelandic boy and the Norwegian kid partnered up, leaving poor Tino to be the only one who didn't have a partner…besides Natalya, that is. Tino was shaking with fear, much like a certain friend of Natalya's brother. He knew what was ahead. What card his cruel fate had handed him. Tino remembered when he had thought Berwald was scary. Berwald was **nothing** compared to the delicate figure that loomed in his near future.

Alfred saw the whole ordeal go down. He looked at the timid Finn. _He looks like he's gonna cry if he's paired up with Natalya. I wonder why. She doesn't really seem __**so **__bad. _He was right though, poor little Tino nearly was crying. Alfred decided something then –he would partner up with Natalya. After all, he was the hero! He would break Natalya for sure! _Sorry, Mattie! You'll have to make it through this project without me around. _Alfred jumped out of his seat and declared "I'll trade partners with Tino!"

Tino let out the biggest sigh of relief Alfred had ever heard. Matthew and Arthur looked at him like he was insane. Granted, he probably was. Alfred beamed at his dumbfounded classmates. The room was quiet for quite some time, trying to make sense of Alfred's actions. Then Feliks said what everyone was thinking: **"WHY?" **

Alfred, being as stupid as he is and thinking he's hilarious, bursts out, "Because I'm madly in love with Natalya and I want her to have my babies!" Everyone's jaws dropped. Natalya glared at him with passion. Did Alfred have a death wish or was he really **so** thick he didn't notice how intimidating she was? He flashed his goofy smile at her from across the room. Tension rose as Natalya made her way over to Alfred with delicate steps. His shenanigans were answered by Natalya with a ridiculously hard slap to the face.

_OWWW! What the hell!_

Alfred stared at the petite girl in front of him, clutching his face. She was so brutal…she had so much force. He was actually hurting! He looked into her eyes. They were fierce and angry but he was infatuated with them. They were so intense. She was scowling at him. He didn't mind. _Heehee!_ _She actually looks kind of adorable like that... _He threw his arm around her and yelled, "Mr. Edelstein! Mattie and Tino are partners now. I'M going to be Natalya's partner!" She was wriggling under his arm. She obviously was not a fan of public affection. Or maybe it was just Alfred that made her uncomfortable?

Mr. Edelstein, looking as shocked as his students, shook his head, acknowledging Alfred's reckless decision. Alfred was so pleased with himself, he was practically radiating joy. _Epic win for Alfred F. Jones! _He beamed at his newly found partner. She just narrowed her eyes at him with what looked like pure hatred…

All the students were instructed to sit with their new significant other. Most of the couples were chatting happily amongst themselves, pretty pleased with who they managed to snag as their partner. Well, except for a few people — like Arthur. He looked rather defeated as he laid face-first at his desk with an all too pleased Francis at his side. Natalya, of course, was one of those few dissatisfied people. She refused to even look at her new "husband". _Well, you're stuck with me now!_

Mr. Edelstein congratulated each couple with a warm, sincere smile. _Why is he so excited about this project!_ He then promptly began explaining how each person would receive their career. Alfred listened carefully to the lecture, not wanting to miss anything for the sake of his "wife"

"So, essentially you have no say in your occupation in this project. You'll get what you get. Life is exactly the same way! You never know how things will work out." Mr. Edelstein said with surprising passion. Everyone groaned at this new discovery.

"**We don't get to pick our own careers?"**

"**How lame…"**

"**That's so stupid!"**

"Now, now! If we let you pick your own jobs, it'd be so chaotic! Everyone would want the really high-paying jobs or want to be a stay at home parent. " he explained calmly. Everyone got quiet because they knew it was true. So, he got out a large container with little scraps of paper and brought it around the room so everyone could seal their fate.

"Don't open the paper until I say so!" Mr. Edelstein cheerfully reminded. _He's enjoying this too much…_ He returned to his podium when everyone had their scrap of paper. Anxiety took over all of the students as they stared at their future. Mr. Edelstein, not being able to handle the suspense himself, finally gave the word.

Some students tore open the paper, while others shakily opened it. All around the class people cheered or pouted or even looked completely shocked! You could read their expressions with ease. It wasn't too hard to figure out what kind of a job they had gotten…

"**My dream job!"**

"**Sweet, I got an easy job that pays well~"**

"**Dammit! I'm gonna be poor!"**

"**Shit. This job sucks."**

"**IS THIS EVEN A LEGAL OCCUPATION!"**

Alfred had excitedly pulled his paper open only to reveal…

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><p>So the <em>happy<em> couple is formed! What could Alfred's job possibly be? What about the rest of the class! The answer to those questions will be revealed in the next chapter!

_I apologize if this chapter seemed a bit off to you. In truth, I had half of it written a good while ago and just now finished the second half so the style may have changed a bit…_

Let me know if you liked this, leave a review!

**Thank you for your time!**


	3. She's Not So Bad

**Life Skills**

**America & Belarus/ Alfred Jones & Natalya Arlovskaya**

**[High School AU]**

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><p><em>((These Italics are used to represent Alfred's inner thoughts in this chapter))<em>

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><p>Alfred had excitedly pulled his paper open only to reveal…Nurse. ((<em>A nurse! WHAT? That's totally a girl's job!)) <em>Discontented, he turned to Arthur.

"What'd you get stuck with, Artie?" Alfred asked loudly from across the room. Mr. Edelstein was too preoccupied with going around the room and jotting down who got what job to care about the noise level.

"Kindergarten teacher," Arthur replied rather happily. He loved working with children, despite the fact that it didn't always turn out so well. He always liked babysitting and teaching his younger friends about the ways of the world. He likes it because he can be someone for the kids to look up to, like an older brother.

"But you suck at taking care of kids. Just look how Peter turned out!" Alfred yelled, oblivious to the fact that he had just dashed Arthur's dreams by telling him the all-too painful truth. Arthur cursed at Alfred and resumed slumping at his desk, hating this class all over again. Alfred focused his attention on his actual partner.

"Natalya, what are you?" he asked, a bit calmer than before and with a charming smile. _((I'm gonna win this girl over if it's the last thing I do!)) _She looked at him as if she were internally debating whether or not she should acknowledge his question. Instead of verbally answering, she tossed her folded paper in his general direction and snatched up his. _((Jeez. Is it something embarrassing? Does it say, like, stripper or something?))_ He opened the paper.

"Are you kidding me!" he shouted in disbelief at Natalya's job. Everyone glanced at him for a moment before returning to their conversations. Natalya had pulled police officer. _((WOW! My partner would get the exact job I wanted!)) _His cheery demeanor was slaughtered. Very much resembling his brother, Alfred let out a large sigh.

"Something wrong?" Natalya asked with a tone of indifference. _((Hey, she actually spoke!))_ Even with her icy tone, her voice was refreshing to Alfred.

"Well, the job you got…It's exactly the one I wanted." Alfred mentioned, trying to get sympathy from his frigid partner by making his eyes all big and pouting ever-so-slightly. Natalya stared at him, seemingly unaffected by his puppy-dog tactics. She looked like she was going to say something, but was interrupted by the teacher coming to their desk.

"Natalya, Alfred, I need to know what jobs you got," Mr. Edelstein explained. _((Ughh…I don't wanna be a nurse!))_ He opened his mouth to force out his job, but Natalya answered faster.

"Alfred is a police officer." She stated, very suddenly. Alfred gave her a shocked look. The teacher didn't seem to notice. Instead, he congratulated Alfred.

"That suits you well, Jones," Mr. Edelstein said matter-of-factly. All thanked him as he rubbed the back of his head, laughing nervously. "And what occupation did destiny give you, Miss Arlovskaya?" the teacher inquired.

"I'm a nurse," she replied briskly. He nodded in approval and wandered off to the next group, leaving the awkward couple alone again. Alfred smiled at Natalya warmly, trying to start up a thank you. She turned her reddening face away from him hastily. _((She's embarrassed because she was nice to me? Cuuute~))_

"Hey, Nat," Alfred started, trying to get her attention. She turned around just a little, to make a face at the nickname. "Thanks for trading jobs with me." She turned red all over again, and quickly turned her head once more.

"I-It's not like I did it to make you happy." Natalya protested, "I just… wanted to be a nurse. That's all." Alfred beamed at her little attempt to cover up a good deed. _((Natalya isn't so scary…)) _Mr. Edelstein had resumed his position at the front of the class, ready to move on and explain the next portion of the project. Elizaveta didn't have to yell to get everybody focused this time around. This was a pleasant surprise for Mr. Edelstein. He smiled away at his podium as he started.

"Ok, guys," he began, "In order to make your situations more realistic, I'd like each couple to come up with your life story. You know, things like how you met, when you got married, how your child came to be. I'll give you time everyday in class to work on it, but feel free to work on it outside of school, too. Seriously though, guys, try to keep it somewhat believable. Go ahead and start working on it for the last part of class."

Students immediately started brainstorming with their partners with enthusiasm. Faces lit up as imaginations went wild cooking up fantastic ideas of first encounters, dates, and children's birthdays. This class was full of romantics; there was no doubt about that. Francis was throwing explicit ideas one after another towards a very flustered Arthur. Matthew and Tino were thinking up very innocent ideas of their first date. Elizaveta and Gilbert were having a bit of a lover's spat once again. Eduard and Vash had just agreed that they met at work and spent 3 years dating before getting engaged. Meanwhile Antonio was spouting out many different scenarios, all shot down by Romano.

"Have any ideas on how we met?" Natalya asked quietly. Alfred thought for a moment. His imagination whisked him away to a snowy December night in beautiful Manhattan. Everything around him was lit up by Christmas lights. He was sitting on a park bench, listening to the carolers and enjoying the holiday season when he felt a small weight at the other end of the same bench. He looked over and was instantly smitten with what he saw. A lovely young lady with long blonde hair and strikingly beautiful violet eyes occupied the space next to him. She was wrapped up in her heavy winter coat, hat and scarf. Her nose and cheeks were a precious red color. She held a small, open book in her mittened hand. Upon seeing Alfred peering at her, she smiled sweetly at him. She returned to her reading, looking up to see Alfred gazing at her intently. When she was finished, she got up to leave, but Alfred stopped her. He introduced himself to the elegant young women. She sat back down and introduced herself, shaking Alfred's hand. They stayed on that bench for hours talking to each other…

"Alfred. Any ideas?" Natalya repeated, annoyance apparent in her tone.

"No, not really…" he replied wistfully.

The bell rang and everyone shuffled out of the classroom, Alfred still dazed by his daydream.

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><p><strong><em>AN: _**_Hey! I FINALLY got chapter 3 up! Really, I'm so very sorry it took a lifetime. Anyway, thanks to FluffyMareep for the cop idea! And, before I get crap for this, I'm well aware that there are plenty of male nurses out there (Rory Pond is the first one that comes to mind), but it's AMERICA, guys. He'd be like "ASDFGHKL, THAT'S FOR WOMEN." Well, thank you for being patient and reading! I hope you liked it!_


	4. Making Plans

**Life Skills**

**America & Belarus/ Alfred Jones & Natalya Arlovskaya**

**[High School AU]**

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><p><em>((These Italics are used to represent Natalya's inner thoughts in this chapter))<em>

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><p>Natalya hastily strode out of the classroom door and weaved her way through the hall, looking back every so often to make sure Alfred wasn't seeking her out. To her relief, there was no sign of the boisterous American. So, turning the corner, she went ahead to her locker. As per usual, Elizaveta was waiting for her so they could go to lunch together. Surprisingly, however, she was not alone. A certain mouthy German was heckling her, just like he had in class. <em>((What is he doing waiting with Eliza?))<em> Natalya shot her friend an inquiring look as she entered her locker combination carefully.

"Thanks to our new assignment, Gilbert _insists _on spending every second of every day together," Elizaveta begrudging explained, making an unpleasant face at her lovely "husband".

"That way we'll have a better connection when Lil Awesome arrives!" Gilbert announced. For a slacker, he sure was uncharacteristically enthusiastic about a new project.

"For the last time, we are _**not**_ naming the baby Lil Awesome!" Elizaveta snapped, smacking him on the back of the head angrily. She sighed in exasperation. "Good lord. How did I ever get stuck with you?"

"Its destiny, babe," Gilbert said with a wink. _((Oh, he definitely has a death wish.)) _Elizaveta smacked the hapless idiot several times more before turning to her patiently waiting friend.

"Ready for lunch?" she asked, a tone of exhaustion apparent. Natalya nodded, shut her locker and walked down the hall with the other two. Upon sitting down at the usual lunch table, it was discovered that Gilbert wasn't the only one from class who wanted some grown-up bonding time with their significant other before their precious little sack babies were assigned to them. Nearly _everyone_ was with their designated partner. Except for Alfred and Natalya, of course.

Currently, Alfred was sitting in on a very awkward lunch between Arthur and Francis. Once again, they found themselves having a fight.

"You bloody wanker! There's nothing wrong with my cooking!" Arthur yelled grabbing on to the Frenchman's shirt and shaking him violently. As they tossed insults back and forth at one another, Alfred caught sight of his lovely partner and perked up a bit. Taking his tray of food, he left the table and flounced over to Natalya. Arthur and Francis didn't even notice.

Natalya felt someone approaching behind her. She whipped her head around and immediately frowned. _((Damn. He found me.))_ He flashed his goofy smile at her, completely oblivious as usual.

"Hello, Alfred!" Elizaveta greeted cheerfully, returning his smile. He responded with a wave and a merry 'hey'. Everyone was friends with Alfred, after all. Gilbert welcomed him as well, with a smirk and half-wave. Al turned to Natalya, grin not faltering even when he saw the disgust plastered on her face.

"Hello darling. Care to join me for lunch?" he asked, politeness and courtesy trickling from his voice as he offered his beautiful "wife" his arm. Before she even had the chance to answer, Gilbert and Elizaveta bade a very flustered Natalya goodbye with mischievous grins and walked off in the other direction to join Ludwig, Feliciano, Antonio and Romano. Alfred, being Alfred, took that as a yes and led her over to an empty table on the outer edge of the cafeteria.

She sat as far away from the dork as she could. She looked fiercely at the sickening amount of food he had balancing on his tray. "That's disgusting," she reprimanded him bluntly. Alfred simply laughed it off and began eating. Natalya wasn't amused. Alfred didn't seem to care. He was used to getting criticized for all the food he ate. It's not like it was _his_ fault he had such a high-energy metabolism in the first place. He worked out like a champ to cancel it out, anyway. Annoyed, Natalya rested her cheek in her hand and averted her gaze from the handsome American across the way.

"Hey," Alfred began between bites, "So, we never really got out back story started on in class."

"And?" she replied curtly, glancing in his direction.

"Well, if we keep that up, we'll be way behind everyone else. So, I was thinking that maybe you should come over to my house after school so we can figure it all out. That way, we'll be ahead of the game when we go in tomorrow!" he explained. _((Go over to __**your **__house after school? How about '__**no**__'.)) _Natalya reflected on this actually sensible idea of Alfred's. On one hand, she didn't really want to fall behind the rest of the class, but on the other hand, she _really_ didn't want to go to Alfred's house. The very place he lived. Who knew what insanity ensued in his household! And, besides, she didn't even know him well enough to visit his residence.

"Well, I'm definitely not going over to your house, " she said sternly with no room for argument – though she did earn a small pout from Al, "However, seeing as we are behind our fellow students which cannot be tolerated, perhaps we can sort everything out in the park or something…" Alfred seemed satisfied with that answer because his face lit up like a firecracker.

"Yeah! That'll work," he agreed, more content than he should have been in Natalya's humble opinion. He began babbling about all of the good times he's had in the park and what fun it was going to be going with _her_. Natalya scoffed at his childish attention span as he jumped from one topic to another. She half-listened to him ramble on for the rest of lunch until – thank God – the bell rang.

"Bye," Natalya concluded, starting to dart off in the opposite direction of the school's golden boy. She wasn't able to take two steps before he stopped her.

"I'll walk you to your next class!" he insisted out of good-nature. As he walked at a fast pace, she had no time to argue and before she knew it, the two of them – odd pair that they were – were strolling down side-by-side to Natalya's chemistry class. As they reached her destination, Al promised to meet her right at the front of the building, by the benches before walking down the hall, presumably to join Arthur or Kiku. Elizaveta and Femke walked in to chemistry not long after he had left.

"Hi, Nat! Enjoy lunch?" Elizaveta asked, fully knowing the answer already. She and Femke – who had been filled in on the whole story during their walk there – giggled a bit at the hostile expression their friend was giving them. _((I'm going to kill them later.))_ The warning bell rang and everyone quickly took their seats.

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><p><em><strong>AN: **__Chapter 4 is finally up! As you lovely people can probably tell, I went in to this chapter not knowing how to get to the ending – I didn't even know what the ending was. Well, I hope you enjoy it anyway! I tried to the best of my abilities. I do so hope that shows clearly. As a bonus, there's lots of PruHun in this chapter~ By the way, Femke is Belgium! Thanks for reading! I really hope you stick around for the next chapters!_


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